How to choose an ATS: an interactive guide to picking recruitment software
This guide helps you get clear on what you really need from an ATS –
what's a must-have for you and what's just nice-to-have. Work through a few steps and download a
requirements specification for vendors as a spreadsheet, with ready-made
columns for individual vendors to fill in what their system can do.
You can change anything at any time; your selection is saved in your browser.
ŠB
Written by Štěpán Bartyzal
·
Over 20 years in HR. Ran recruitment hands-on for years, and today focuses on HR tech, digitalization and AI in hiring.
An ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is recruitment software. Its main and primary goal is to
unify candidate responses from different places in one place where they're actually
worked with – from job boards, LinkedIn, career sites, referral programs,
social media campaigns, and sourcing. Once your data is in one place,
the system can manage and measure the whole process. The next phase is guiding the candidate through hiring
while collaborating effectively with colleagues: sharing interview notes, scheduling interviews, and sharing
evaluations from recruiters and hiring managers. Finally, it provides enough information to improve and streamline the whole
process – that is, analytics, reporting and charts.
As long as your responses are in five different places, you have nothing to manage – and nothing to measure.
In two directions. The first direction is publishing a posting from the ATS to job boards,
or to your career site: you enter one posting in the ATS and just tick where it should be
published. This is called multiposting. The second direction, which is even
more important, handles pulling candidate responses from those various places back into the ATS – to
deliver the most important ATS function: unifying candidate responses in one place. Every board has a different
way of connecting; some allow an API interface, others sending data via XML.
So for every place you want to publish, ask whether your ATS supports its interface
type.
Which recruitment software should a small HR team choose? #
Most small HR teams have no ATS – they process data in Excel and Outlook, re-typing it from somewhere.
Automation of data-retention deadlines – keeping track of how long a candidate may be kept – is missing too.
But the biggest problem is forwarding resumes and candidate responses to managers over
email. Two years on, no one goes back to the manager to delete the personal data, so the data
stays in email longer than it should. And when a recruiter sends out thirty such emails, they can't track
which manager replied – and the candidate often gets no answer at all.
Once a resume leaves the ATS, no one is left accountable for it –
neither for privacy nor for replying to the candidate.
You don't need anything complicated, but you do need to bring every user into the system.
The key factor is team size and the agency's way of working. A boutique agency
of two or three recruiters has a handful of chosen clients it takes care of; it doesn't need a robust CRM
for managing clients, but its system's core should be a strong ATS focused on searching its own
talent pool and on active sourcing on LinkedIn. For larger agencies, the key is that
ATS costs don't grow disproportionately and that the system gives them a technological edge over other
agencies. Across all sizes, LinkedIn integration is essential, including the conversation
history you exchanged with the candidate. Equally important is the automation of outputs that present
the quality and scope of the agency's work – because that work is partly invisible to both the client and the candidate.
Which ATS can handle multiple recruiters and role approvals? #
One with a friendly pricing model: you don't buy accounts by the number of users but
pay one price for a chosen set of features. Such systems usually also have features oriented toward multiple
users – for example SSO, which cybersecurity often requires,
tracking candidates through the stages of the process, or candidate recommendations from
other recruiters' hires. Role approvals are usually handled via requisitions, i.e. requests
to open a role, from which the actual postings are created only after approval. The advantage of requisitions is
tracking FTE – the number of full-time roles being hired for – and being able to see in reporting
how many have already been filled and how many are still open.
Without a requisition you don't know how many people (FTE) you're actually hiring for. You only know how many postings you have live.
Which ATS has good email and calendar integration? #
Whether you use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 with Outlook, the key is that the ATS sends
email from your company's own domain – just as if you'd sent it
from Outlook or Gmail. A big added value is communication sync, which can work in
three ways: manually via a plugin in Outlook or Gmail, automatically via a
system email address that records the communication between candidate
and recruiter in copy, or via a direct mailbox connection where the ATS reads all incoming
messages – that method, however, tends to be unpopular from a cybersecurity standpoint and most companies don't
allow it. The calendar has to work both ways: see your own availability and colleagues' shared calendars,
and write a scheduled interview back into the calendar, including a Teams or Google Meet link.
What platform should a growing company choose to unify job postings and applicants? #
The answer is an ATS. It unifies candidates in one place and enables multiposting,
i.e. publishing a single posting from one place to multiple places – whether career sites or
job boards. We also recommend emphasizing LinkedIn sourcing support. A growing company needs a
transparent, simple pricing model that won't burden it with rising
costs for every additional user. So choose an ATS with a per-company license,
not per individual user: the company then has a transparent annual cost and can use the system
to its full extent.
Otherwise it very often happens that a company shares one account among several users –
and this creates a host of problems and ambiguities the system was never designed for.
What tool can handle both hiring and candidate communication? #
An ATS, again. Handling hiring mainly means being able to build
your own hiring process and not having the ATS dictate a single hiring workflow for
everyone. Subsequent communication with candidates then automates easily, because each step of
hiring has clearly defined email templates. They let you use placeholders:
for example the correct salutation form for the candidate's language, text that adapts to the candidate's
gender, or a dynamically inserted date of the scheduled interview.
You handle communication from Gmail (Google Workspace) and Outlook (Microsoft 365) and, thanks to the plugin,
sync it into the system.
Which hiring tool has simple candidate management? #
One that lets you set up a custom view – the columns you want to
see in the candidate list – or a kanban board where candidates sit in columns
by the stage they're in. The system should remember and save your preferred view.
You customize and sort individual list items, and then share candidates
with managers.
A mobile app built for managers is the simplest and most convenient way to exchange information
between a recruiter and a hiring manager – and the fastest way to get feedback from a manager.
This determines which features the guide will suggest. Irrelevant items are automatically hidden or greyed out based on company type.
💡 At your stage, speed and quality of candidate communication matter most. Treat careers pages as part of the ATS decision, because they shape the first impression. For strong candidates, targeted sourcing on LinkedIn usually works better than broad paid job advertising. Make work simple for hiring managers, but keep all information in the ATS, not scattered across email, Slack, or Teams. The biggest mistake is forwarding candidates to managers by email. Focus especially on:Communication synchronization | Careers site | LinkedIn plugin
💡 The key is being able to measure hiring so you can manage it. What you do not measure, you cannot manage. Add automation wherever it makes sense and set clear SLAs for candidate handling. Improve cooperation with hiring managers: keep it clear in the ATS, with a defined brief and deadline. Start building your own talent database that automatically grows from past hiring processes. Focus especially on:Manager requisitions | Candidate-handling SLA | Conversion funnel
💡 Choose a pricing model that will not limit you by user count and is transparent. Rely on automation and different hiring processes for different role types. Keep a clear overview of FTE, and present yourself professionally externally: PDF offers for candidates, candidate NPS measurement, and internal NPS from hiring managers. Focus especially on:FTE report | PDF offers for candidates | NPS measurement
💡 The goal is to follow a formal selection process: set evaluation criteria, create a selection committee, and compare candidates objectively across evaluators. The key requirement is integration with the records-management system, and it needs to work both ways: importing candidates from records into the ATS and sending detailed hiring output back to the file. Without this, you will maintain official records separately from hiring, effectively doing the work twice. Focus especially on:Records-management integration | Selection committee | Selection criteria | Evaluator comparison
💡 Bet on LinkedIn sourcing connected to the ATS. Build a boutique, distinctive identity. Visual outputs from the system must sell your work well, match your brand, and feel professional both to clients and candidates. Focus especially on:LinkedIn plugin | Careers site | Client sharing
💡 Focus on a high-quality, measurable, standardized process - from consistent outputs for candidates through reporting to client-facing presentation. Focus especially on:Custom process stages | Email templates | Conversion funnel
💡 At scale, efficiency and data-driven management decide the outcome: automation of repeated steps, standardization across teams and branches, SLA and conversion-metric management, client CRM, and fair distribution of assignments. Handle access rights and roles so data stays under control even with a large team. Focus especially on:Client CRM | Roles and access rights | Conversion funnel
2
Which market do you hire in, and where do you find candidates? #
This affects source selection and system localization.
💡 For local hiring, direct integration with the job boards you actually use matters most - typically Indeed, LinkedIn, and niche boards. Without it, you will manually re-enter candidate responses, which is exactly what an ATS should prevent. The second point is language: the system must work for recruiters and hiring managers in the language they use day to day. A manager who does not understand the screen will not use the system. Also ask about local support and help content: fast support in the team's working language affects how quickly the team adopts the system. Focus especially on:Job boards | Multiposting | Careers site
💡 In global hiring, the center of gravity shifts. You need multilingual candidate communication, most often in English, and the ability to switch the system language. Also account for time zones and for scheduling message send times in individual hiring stages. The main sources for global hiring are usually LinkedIn and Indeed. Focus especially on:Templates for multiple languages | Scheduled sending | LinkedIn plugin
Select the relevant sources and rank them from most important to least important using the arrows.
💡 What to focus on: Rank sources by the real number of quality candidates, not by habit. Then verify that the ATS has direct integrations with your top 3 sources. That is where multiposting and channel ROI measurement pay off most.
Own careers sitenot relevant for agencies
LinkedIn - sourcingnot relevant for agencies
LinkedIn - job adsnot relevant for agencies
Job advertising on Indeednot relevant for agencies
Job advertising on LinkedInnot relevant for agencies
Job advertising on niche job boardsnot relevant for agencies
Job advertising on startup / tech job boardsnot relevant for agencies
Job advertising on regional job boardsnot relevant for agencies
Job advertising on Indeednot relevant for agencies
Employee referral programnot relevant for agencies
Facebooknot relevant for agencies
Resume databasesnot relevant for agencies
Agenciesnot relevant for agencies
💡 Check how the ATS connects the job listing to your website. The best option is a REST API; alternatives range from JavaScript widgets to an iframe, which is the least professional option. Some ATS platforms can also build and run the careers site. That pays off if you do not want to rely on an external agency: agencies often lack experience with this kind of integration, and seemingly simple development can stretch into months. Focus especially on:Careers site | API | Custom filters
💡 The key is a browser plugin that transfers the candidate profile from LinkedIn into the ATS without retyping. Also ask whether it transfers the message history you exchanged with the candidate. Without it, you lose the context of the first outreach. Focus especially on:LinkedIn plugin | LinkedIn message import | AI sourcing
💡 For LinkedIn ads, solve how applications get to you. Either a plugin can copy the candidate directly from the place where they applied on LinkedIn, or LinkedIn can use an external application-form URL that leads into your ATS. If neither is true, you will be retyping applications manually. Focus especially on:LinkedIn plugin | Custom application form | Duplicate detection
💡 With job boards, separate two different things. Publishing the ad from the ATS is nice, but it is only a nice-to-have. The must-have is automated candidate import from the job board directly into the ATS. Without it, responses stay in the job-board admin area and in email. Verify this for each board separately, not as a generic claim. Focus especially on:Job boards | Multiposting | Source overview
💡 Verify that the ATS offers a referral program at all, then check whether it can truly engage employees. Engagement grows when rewards recognize progress, not just the final result: a small reward for a referred candidate who completes an interview or accepts an offer often works better than one large reward only after start date. Focus especially on:Reward settings | Employee app | Referral integration
💡 Facebook returns campaign results as a table of people interested in the ad. Ask whether the ATS can connect to it and import it automatically, so leads are created as candidates by themselves. Otherwise, you will manually re-enter data from exports. Focus especially on:Bulk candidate import | Source overview
💡 Verify that the ATS supports the exact database you use, typically through a browser plugin that copies the profile and creates the candidate automatically. A generic answer like "we support resume databases" is not enough; ask for the specific name. Focus especially on:Bulk candidate import | Full-text resume search | Duplicate detection
💡 Think through how the agency will get candidates into your system and how you will share candidates you want it to shortlist or prescreen. The goal is to avoid retyping data from emails. Ask about an agency portal where the agency uploads candidates itself, and about sharing only selected candidates with it. Focus especially on:Agency portal | External candidate sharing | Shared views
Fill in the counts. They affect requirements for roles, access, and approvals.
💡 At your size, it is worth avoiding ATS vendors that charge per user. A better fit is one company license with unlimited users: cost is predictable, and you do not have to calculate whether adding another recruiter or manager is worth it. A system that cannot include everyone involved stops serving its purpose - we discuss this in the platform for a growing company section. Focus especially on:Roles and access rights | SSO | Manager views
This affects candidate sources and the emphasis on individual features.
💡 For blue-collar roles, speed of contact is decisive. Verify that the ATS can send SMS directly from the system - ideally from the mobile number of the specific recruiter, not from an anonymous SMS gateway. The candidate can then call back or reply directly to the person who wrote to them. That is not possible with an SMS gateway. Focus especially on:Sending SMS from the ATS | Knock-out questions | Bulk actions
💡 For white-collar roles, your own careers site and recruitment marketing aimed at this audience usually pay off most. In terms of cost and performance, it is often the best way to acquire candidates. Focus especially on:Careers site | Source overview | Custom filters
💡 For specialized and technical roles, a job ad is usually not enough. You have to actively find these people. That makes LinkedIn integration essential as the main sourcing channel, possibly with connections to industry job boards. For sourcing, insist that the ATS can pull the candidate directly into the system without retyping data. Otherwise you will spend more time on administration than searching. Focus especially on:LinkedIn plugin | AI sourcing on LinkedIn | Job boards
6
Why do you need an ATS? What do you want to solve? #
Select everything relevant and rank it by importance.
💡 What to focus on: Your main "why" should drive the selection of must-have features. If the goal is to get rid of Excel, the priority is simple candidate tracking and pipeline management. If the goal is better reporting, verify reporting capabilities before signing a contract.
Unify applications in one placenot relevant for agencies
Get rid of Excelnot relevant for agencies
Improve communication with managersnot relevant for agencies
Set up the process and communicationnot relevant for agencies
Better reportingnot relevant for agencies
Make hiring more efficientnot relevant for agencies
💡 Unifying applications succeeds or fails on data-transfer automation. Insist that candidates are imported into the ATS automatically - from job boards and the careers site - without manual re-entry. On LinkedIn, this is typically handled by a browser plugin. If you retype data into the system manually, you have only moved the problem, not solved it. Focus especially on:Job boards | LinkedIn plugin | Duplicate detection
💡 Moving away from Excel is not about the spreadsheet; it is about three things. (1) Set data deletion and retention rules for candidates and let the system monitor them instead of relying on human memory. (2) Immediately stop using Outlook, or email in general, as a tool for sharing candidates inside the company (why). (3) Verify that the ATS can import your existing candidates from Excel so you do not start with an empty database. Bonus compared with a spreadsheet: in an ATS, you can set different hiring processes for different role types. Focus especially on:Bulk candidate import | Automatic anonymization | Custom process stages
💡 The decisive question is whether hiring managers will adopt the ATS. It must be simple enough to open without training, while still capturing the notes and interview outputs HR needs to record. A major advantage is a dedicated mobile app for managers - then you can get feedback in minutes, not days. The second layer is measurement. In decentralized hiring (branches, retail), the recruitment manager is not present at interviews. The system therefore needs to show which managers worsen candidate experience and which improve it, because they shape your employer brand in the labor market. Focus especially on:Manager views | Mobile app | NPS measurement
💡 Standard reports will sooner or later stop being enough. Ask about the ability to build your own reports and about AI over hiring data - in other words, a chatbot that lets you ask for numbers in natural language. With AI, also ask where the data is stored and who can access it. You must be able to discuss hiring data securely. Focus especially on:Custom report creation | AI chatbot over reporting | CSV / BI export
💡 Hiring efficiency means automating everything that repeats: automatic tasks and actions triggered when a candidate enters a certain stage, templates linked to stages, and SLA monitoring. AI can help too, but use it carefully and with appropriate governance, especially when it supports decisions about candidates. Focus especially on:Templates for hiring stages | Candidate-handling SLA | Candidate scoring
KanbanA candidate view where cards are arranged in columns by hiring stage. Useful when you want to see at a glance where each candidate stands.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate list viewA table view of candidates in rows, with sorting and filtering. Useful when you work with a large number of candidates.
not relevant for agencies
Configurable custom process stagesThe ability to define custom hiring process steps based on how your company actually hires. Ask for this if your selection process is specific.
not relevant for agencies
Configurable views with custom candidate dataSaved views where you choose which candidate data is displayed. Useful for different role types or user roles.
not relevant for agencies
Simplified views and pages for managersSimplified screens for hiring managers without unnecessary features or data. Useful when managers are not expected to work in the system every day.
not relevant for agencies
Shared views for external partners (agency / client)A view that can be shared with external partners, such as an agency or client. Ask for this if you work with people outside the company.
not relevant for agencies
Configurable tables and views for reportingConfigurable tables and views designed for reporting and data analysis. Useful when you need to group data in different ways.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate comparison for a roleA side-by-side comparison of multiple candidates for one role. Useful during final decision-making.
NotesNotes on individual candidates directly on their candidate profile. Used to record impressions and information from the selection process.
not relevant for agencies
TasksTasks linked to a candidate, with assignees and due dates. Useful so nothing in the hiring process falls through the cracks.
not relevant for agencies
Interview dateThe interview date and time recorded directly on the candidate profile. Helps keep track of planned meetings.
not relevant for agencies
ChecklistsLists of steps that need to be completed for a candidate. Useful for standardizing the process and checking completeness.
not relevant for agencies
Action historyA chronological record of all actions and changes made to a candidate. Useful when you need to find out who did what and when.
not relevant for agencies
Interview recordA saved record or write-up from an interview on the candidate profile. Useful for recalling the interview later.
not relevant for agencies
ScorecardStructured candidate evaluation based on predefined criteria. Useful for more objective and comparable assessment.
not relevant for agencies
Internal questionnaire (shared by recruiter and manager)An internal questionnaire shared by the recruiter and hiring manager for a candidate. Used to collect feedback in one place.
not relevant for agencies
External questionnaire for the candidateA questionnaire completed by the candidate, for example with follow-up questions. Useful for collecting information without manual re-entry.
not relevant for agencies
Generating and approving a job offer for the candidateCreating a job offer for a candidate, including its approval workflow. Useful when the offer needs approval from several people.
Requisitions - requests to open a roleA requisition where a manager requests that a new role be opened. Ask for this if hiring starts from a business request.
not relevant for agencies
Tasks for managers with due datesTasks assigned to managers, with due dates. Useful so managers complete hiring steps on time.
not relevant for agencies
Task dashboardA dashboard where a manager sees their tasks and responsibilities. Useful for easy manager orientation.
not relevant for agencies
Mobile app for managersA mobile app that lets managers work with hiring from their phone. Useful for managers away from their desk.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate rating with thumbs / starsQuick candidate rating with thumbs or stars. Useful for simple feedback from hiring managers.
not relevant for agencies
Field for recording interview outputA field where the manager records the interview outcome and conclusion. Used to capture decisions directly in the system.
not relevant for agencies
Evaluation criteria for individual interview roundsDefined evaluation criteria for individual interview rounds. Useful for comparable and structured assessment.
not relevant for agencies
Share only selected candidates for a roleSharing only selected candidates for a role with a hiring manager. Useful when the manager should not see all applicants.
not relevant for agencies
Share the whole role with all candidatesSharing the whole role, including all candidates, with a hiring manager. Useful when the manager should have full visibility.
not relevant for agencies
Selection template (manager interview questions)An interview question template that guides the manager through selection. Helps standardize interviews across managers.
not relevant for agencies
Manager notification settingsSettings for which notifications a manager receives and when. Useful so managers are neither overloaded nor left uninformed.
not relevant for agencies
Internal NPS measurement from managersMeasuring manager satisfaction with hiring through an internal NPS. Useful for improving cooperation with hiring managers.
not relevant for agencies
Manager preliminary rejection of a candidateThe ability for a manager to preliminarily reject a candidate before further steps. Speeds up applicant screening.
not relevant for agencies
Automatic reminders to managers for unresolved tasksAutomatic reminders to managers about unresolved tasks. Useful so hiring is not delayed by managers.
Multiposting (one click to multiple job boards and your careers site)Publishing a job ad with one click to multiple job boards and the careers site. Saves time when opening roles.
not relevant for agencies
Job description / job ad templatesPrepared templates for job descriptions and job ads. Useful for faster, more consistent job posting creation.
not relevant for agencies
Approving role openingsAn approval process before a role is opened and published. Ask for this if opening a role requires approval.
not relevant for agencies
AI-generated text draftA job ad draft generated by artificial intelligence. Helps write the offer faster.
not relevant for agencies
AI competitiveness analysisAI evaluation of how competitive the job ad is against the market. Useful for increasing the number of responses.
not relevant for agencies
Referral program and reward management integrationConnecting a role to the referral program and reward management. Useful when you hire through employee referrals.
not relevant for agencies
Custom filtering fields (functions, divisions, entities, clients) for the careers siteCustom filtering fields (functions, divisions, entities, clients) for the careers site. Useful when you have many open roles.
not relevant for agencies
Defining priorities for rolesPriority labels for individual roles. Helps recruiters focus on the most important roles first.
not relevant for agencies
Role overview with candidate counts in individual hiring stagesAn overview of roles with candidate counts in each hiring stage. Useful for a quick status check across all hiring.
not relevant for agencies
Prescreening (knock-out) questions in the application formKnock-out questions in the application form. They automatically filter out applicants who do not meet basic requirements.
Google Calendar integrationConnecting the system to Google Calendar. Useful so interviews appear where you normally manage your schedule.
not relevant for agencies
Microsoft Outlook Calendar integrationConnecting the system to Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Useful so interviews appear where you normally manage your schedule.
not relevant for agencies
See available time slots when scheduling an interviewWhen scheduling an interview, you can see participants' available time slots. Prevents conflicts and speeds up coordination.
not relevant for agencies
Write the interview time directly from the ATS to the calendarAutomatically writing the agreed time from the ATS directly to the calendar. Saves manual re-entry.
not relevant for agencies
Support for online interviews (Google Meet / Teams link generation)Support for online interviews with automatic generation of a Google Meet or Teams link. Makes remote interviews easier.
not relevant for agencies
Booking links offering candidates an available time slotA booking link that lets the candidate choose an available time slot. Useful for removing lengthy scheduling back-and-forth.
not relevant for agencies
Booking links connected to multiple external calendarsBooking links connected to multiple external calendars at once. Useful when availability is checked across several people.
not relevant for agencies
Booking links with multi-slots (one time slot for multiple candidates, e.g. AC)Booking links with group slots, where one time slot is shared by multiple candidates. Useful for assessment centers.
Connection to your email (sending under the company domain name)Connection to company email with sending from your domain. Useful for more trustworthy candidate communication.
not relevant for agencies
Communication synchronization (outgoing and incoming candidate messages)Synchronization of outgoing and incoming candidate messages into the system. Keeps all communication in one place.
not relevant for agencies
LinkedIn message import (when adding a candidate from LinkedIn)Importing LinkedIn message history when adding a candidate. Useful for preserving the context of earlier communication.
not relevant for agencies
Email templatesPrepared email templates for recurring situations. Useful for faster and more consistent communication.
not relevant for agencies
Email templates for multiple languagesEmail templates in multiple language versions. Useful when hiring in a multilingual environment.
not relevant for agencies
Email templates for specific hiring stagesEmail templates linked to specific hiring stages. Makes it easier to send the right message at the right moment.
not relevant for agencies
Email templates with variables (salutation, gender, interview date...)Templates with variables that are filled in automatically (salutation, interview date). Useful for personalization without manual work.
not relevant for agencies
Sending SMS to candidates directly from the ATSSending SMS messages to candidates directly from the system. Useful for quick reminders or urgent messages.
not relevant for agencies
AI draft of an email replyAn AI draft of an email reply to a candidate. Speeds up responses to common questions.
not relevant for agencies
Caller identification / logging (caller ID)Identification and recording of the calling candidate (caller ID). Helps you know who is calling and match the call to a profile.
not relevant for agencies
Scheduled message sending (with the candidate's time zone in mind)Sending an email at a scheduled time, for example based on the candidate's time zone. Useful when hiring across countries.
Referral program: reward settingsSetting rewards within a referral program. Ask for this if you reward employees for referrals.
not relevant for agencies
Referral program: mobile app for employees (overview of rewards, referrals, and results)A mobile app for employees with an overview of referrals, rewards, and outcomes. Supports engagement in the referral program.
not relevant for agencies
SLA - critical candidate-handling times in individual stagesTracking critical response times for candidates in individual stages (SLA). Useful for speed and fairness in hiring.
not relevant for agencies
Rejection reason settingsSetting standard rejection reasons for candidates. Lets you track why people were not selected.
not relevant for agencies
Mobile appA mobile app for working with hiring from a phone. Useful for work away from a computer.
not relevant for agencies
Tablet appAn app optimized for tablets. Useful during interviews or recruiting events.
not relevant for agencies
Link for creating a candidate from an event (fair, university, meetup...)A link for quickly creating a candidate from an event, such as a fair or university visit. Makes on-site contact collection easier.
not relevant for agencies
External candidate sharing with an agency / freelancersExternal sharing of candidates with an agency or freelancers. Useful when working outside the internal team.
not relevant for agencies
Agency portal - uploading candidates from an agencyA portal where an agency uploads its candidates into the system. Useful when working with multiple suppliers.
not relevant for agencies
Creating a custom application formCreating a custom application form for applicants. Lets you collect exactly the information you need.
not relevant for agencies
Support for internal hiringSupport for internal hiring among current employees. Useful for filling roles from within the company.
not relevant for agencies
Full-text search in candidate resumesFull-text search within candidate resume content. Useful for quickly finding people by keywords.
not relevant for agencies
Creating candidate micro-pools inside the talent poolCreating smaller groups (micro-pools) of candidates inside the talent pool. Helps maintain shortlists for specific needs.
not relevant for agencies
Marking candidates as Blacklist / SupertalentMarking candidates as Blacklist or, conversely, Supertalent. Helps quickly distinguish unsuitable and especially interesting people.
not relevant for agencies
Switching the ATS language to EnglishSwitching the system interface to English. Useful for international teams and foreign users.
not relevant for agencies
Detecting and merging duplicate candidatesDetecting and merging duplicate candidate records. Keeps the database clean and free of duplicates.
not relevant for agencies
Bulk actions on candidates (emails, stage changes, tags)Bulk actions on multiple candidates at once (emails, stage changes, tags). Saves time when working with large groups.
not relevant for agencies
Bulk candidate import (from resume files)Bulk import of candidates from resume files. Useful when migrating from an older system or large databases.
Azure SSOSign-in through company Microsoft Azure accounts (SSO). Simplifies and secures user login.
not relevant for agencies
SSO (generic)Single sign-on (SSO) through the company identity. Useful for user convenience and central access management.
not relevant for agencies
Google SSOSign-in through company Google accounts (SSO). Simplifies and secures user login.
not relevant for agencies
SlackConnection to Slack for notifications and alerts. Useful when the team communicates in Slack.
not relevant for agencies
Email connection (sending under the domain name)Connection to email with sending from your company domain. Useful for more trustworthy communication.
not relevant for agencies
Plugin for importing candidates from LinkedInA browser extension for importing a candidate directly from LinkedIn. Speeds up sourcing and profile creation.
not relevant for agencies
Plugin for importing candidates from GmailAn add-on for importing a candidate directly from Gmail. Makes it easier to track applicants who email you.
not relevant for agencies
Plugin for importing candidates from OutlookAn add-on for importing a candidate directly from Outlook. Makes it easier to track applicants who email you.
not relevant for agencies
SAP SuccessFactorsIntegration with SAP SuccessFactors. Useful when the company uses this HR system.
not relevant for agencies
OnboardingConnection to an onboarding system for handing over hired candidates. Ensures a smooth transition from hiring to onboarding.
not relevant for agencies
HRISThe ability to connect to an HRIS. Every company has a different HRIS, so verify that the ATS can connect to yours. Useful for linking hiring with employee records.
not relevant for agencies
APIAn application programming interface (API) for custom integrations. Ask for this if you need to connect data with other systems.
not relevant for agencies
Careers siteConnection to the careers site for publishing roles and collecting applications. The foundation for receiving applicants from your own website.
not relevant for agencies
Job boardsConnection to job boards for publishing job ads. Useful for wider reach.
not relevant for agencies
Zapier (no-code connection to other tools)Connection through Zapier for no-code integration with other tools. Useful for automation without programming.
not relevant for agencies
Webhooks (outgoing events for custom integrations)Webhooks that send events from the ATS to your own systems or third-party tools. They let you react to ATS activity in real time. Example: in the hiring process, you want to connect a third-party tool (video screening, AI testing, background check). When a candidate reaches a given hiring stage, the webhook automatically sends that tool a signal to process this candidate. The user does not have to trigger a separate special action; it is tied to the normal hiring stage.
Source-of-applications overviewAn overview of which sources candidates respond from. Useful for deciding where to invest in job advertising.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate overview by stageAn overview of candidate counts in individual hiring stages. Shows where selection is accumulating or getting stuck.
not relevant for agencies
FTE report (currently hiring vs. accepted)An FTE report comparing how many people you are currently hiring for and how many have already been accepted. Helps with capacity planning.
not relevant for agencies
Open / closed roles overviewAn overview of open and closed roles. Useful for a quick status check of the hiring portfolio.
not relevant for agencies
Time to hire (from candidate response to offer acceptance)Time to hire - the time from a candidate's application to offer acceptance. Shows how quickly hiring is moving.
not relevant for agencies
Time to fill (from requisition / role opening to acceptance or closing)Time to fill - the time from opening a role to filling or closing it. Measures the overall speed of filling roles.
not relevant for agencies
Automated NPS measurement (candidate experience)Automated measurement of candidate satisfaction (candidate experience) through NPS. Useful for improving the applicant experience.
not relevant for agencies
Custom report creationCreating custom reports as needed. Useful when standard overviews are not enough.
not relevant for agencies
AI chatbot over reportingAn AI chatbot that answers questions over reporting data. Lets you get answers without manually building reports.
not relevant for agencies
Hired candidates overviewAn overview of hired candidates. Used for tracking and evaluating successful hires.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate rejection reasonsAn overview of candidate rejection reasons. Helps you understand why applicants drop out.
not relevant for agencies
Recruitment conversion funnel (ratios between stages)A recruitment funnel with conversion rates between stages. Reveals where you lose the most candidates in selection.
not relevant for agencies
Data export to CSV / BIExporting data to CSV or BI tools. Useful for your own analysis outside the system.
Candidate recommendations for a newly opened roleAI recommendations of suitable candidates for a newly opened role. Saves time searching the existing database.
not relevant for agencies
Help with candidate selectionAI assistance with selecting and comparing candidates. Supports decisions without replacing human judgment.
not relevant for agencies
Online interview transcription - notes creationAI transcription of an online interview and creation of notes. Useful so you can focus on the candidate during the interview.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate analysis (fit, interview questions)AI candidate analysis, including fit and suggested interview questions. Helps you prepare for an interview.
not relevant for agencies
Reporting chatbotA chatbot for questions over reporting and hiring data. Lets you get numbers in natural language.
not relevant for agencies
Job ad competitiveness analysisAI analysis of a job ad's competitiveness against the market. Useful for increasing the number of responses.
not relevant for agencies
External AI sourcing on LinkedInAI candidate search on LinkedIn (external sourcing). Useful for approaching passive candidates.
not relevant for agencies
AI draft of personalized replies to candidatesAI drafts of personalized replies to candidates. Speeds up communication while keeping a personal tone.
not relevant for agencies
Candidate scoringAutomatic AI scoring of candidates. Helps with initial sorting of a larger number of applicants.
not relevant for agencies
AI candidate search in the talent poolAI search for suitable candidates in your database (talent pool). Useful for reusing earlier applicants.
not relevant for agencies
AI parsing / extraction of resume dataAI extraction of resume data into structured fields. Saves manual re-entry of CV data.
not relevant for agencies
Detection of AI content in resumesDetection of content created by artificial intelligence in a resume. Helps assess CV authenticity and authorship.
not relevant for agencies
AI translation of a job ad into other languagesAI translation of a job ad into other languages. Useful for hiring across countries.
not relevant for agencies
Prescreening voice bot (phone-based AI prescreening)A phone-based AI voice bot for candidate prescreening. Handles initial screening without recruiter involvement.
not relevant for agencies
AI labor-market and compensation analysisAI analysis of the labor market and compensation. Useful when setting offers and salary ranges.
GDPR compliance (EU storage and technical requirements for a DPA)GDPR compliance, including EU storage and technical conditions for a data processing agreement. A foundation for lawful processing of candidate data.
not relevant for agencies
Monitoring deadlines for talent-pool storageMonitoring consent deadlines for storing candidates in the talent pool. Helps keep legal deadlines under control.
not relevant for agencies
Automatic warning before consent expiresAutomatic warning before a candidate's consent expires. Useful so you can renew consent or delete data in time.
not relevant for agencies
Automatic anonymizationAutomatic anonymization of candidate data after the retention period ends. Ensures personal data is not kept longer than needed.
not relevant for agencies
Keeping notes and analytical information after anonymizationKeeping notes and analytical data after personal data has been anonymized. Enables reporting without storing personal data.
not relevant for agencies
Ability to set a custom consent durationThe ability to set your own consent validity period. Useful for adapting to internal rules.
not relevant for agencies
Monitoring a reasonable legitimate-interest retention period for candidate data on a roleMonitoring a reasonable retention period for candidate data for a role under legitimate interest. Helps maintain GDPR compliance.
Overview of recommended candidatesAn overview of candidates recommended to the client. Helps the agency track submitted applicants.
not relevant for agencies
Filtering roles and candidates by clientFiltering roles and candidates by client. Useful when working for multiple customers at the same time.
not relevant for agencies
Hiring export (total number of candidates, interviews, etc.)Exporting hiring data, such as candidate and interview counts. Used for client-facing reporting.
not relevant for agencies
CRM for clients, leads, contracts, and billingCRM for managing clients, leads, contracts, and billing. Connects hiring with the agency's sales agenda.
not relevant for agencies
External candidate sharing and interaction with the clientExternal sharing of candidates with a client and joint interaction around them. Speeds up client feedback.
Creating a selection committeeCreating a selection committee for assessing candidates. Supports collective decision-making in a formal selection process.
not relevant for agencies
Setting selection criteria by roleSetting selection criteria for a specific role. Ensures transparent and consistent assessment.
not relevant for agencies
Comparing candidates by individual evaluatorsComparing candidates by the evaluations of individual committee members. Useful for fair and documented decisions.
not relevant for agencies
Records-management integration - importing candidates from recordsConnection to a records-management system for importing candidates from official records. Connects hiring with formal administrative records.
not relevant for agencies
Records-management integration - detailed hiring outputConnection to a records-management system for detailed hiring output. Ensures documentation is handed back into the file.
not relevant for agencies
Publishing a job ad on the institution's digital public notice boardPublishing a job ad on the institution's digital public notice board. Meets the requirement to publish a selection process.
not relevant for agencies
Tracking statutory selection-process deadlinesTracking statutory deadlines in the selection process. Helps meet prescribed timelines.
not relevant for agencies
Generating selection-process protocolsGenerating selection-process protocols. Useful for traceability and official process documentation.
Download the specification as a spreadsheet and send it to vendors as an attachment to your inquiry.
The file contains ready-made columns ATS 1–3 and Note,
for the vendor to fill in what their system offers.
You haven't selected any features yet. Go to step 7.
Before you download the specification…
Leave us your contact details and in return we can show you online how our
ATS Recruitis addresses your requirements. It's not required — you can download the specification either way.
You have a specification – now use it to compare real ATS platforms. We've prepared an
ATS comparison in one place,
where you can see how individual systems fare on the features from this guide.
Connecting an ATS to job boards works in two directions, and it's essential not to confuse them.
In the first direction, a posting is published from the ATS to the boards: you enter one posting in the ATS
and tick where it should appear – on Indeed, LinkedIn and other boards, as well as your own career site.
This is called multiposting. In the second direction, which turns out to be
more important, candidate responses from those boards are automatically pulled back into the ATS so they're
unified in one place. Unifying responses is the main reason to get an ATS.
Direction 1: publishing a posting from the ATS to boards (multiposting) #
Multiposting means you write the text of a role once – in the ATS – and from there, in one step, publish it
to several job boards at the same time, and optionally to your career site too. It removes re-typing
the posting into each board separately, along with typos, diverging versions of the text, and forgotten roles
left live somewhere after they were filled.
With multiposting, verify three things: how many boards the ATS publishes to, whether they include
the ones you use, and whether a posting can be not only published from the ATS but also
edited and closed. Publishing without the ability to take a posting down is a half-solution.
Direction 2: pulling responses from boards back into the ATS #
This direction is more important and often overlooked during selection. If the ATS can only
broadcast postings but candidate responses keep coming to your email and to each board's admin panel,
you've gained nothing – you've just moved the re-typing from postings to candidates.
A properly connected ATS pulls a candidate's response from the board automatically, including the resume
and the application form, and creates it as a candidate card on the right role. This produces
a unified database of all applicants regardless of where they came from. A side, but very valuable,
effect: each candidate keeps a source, so for the first time you'll see which board
actually brings you candidates.
Two things complicate this direction: duplicates (the same candidate responds
from both Indeed and the career site) and LinkedIn, which has no standard response
channel – you usually get candidates from it into the ATS via a browser plugin, not an automatic feed.
There's no single universal way to connect to a job board. Every board offers
a different interface, and that determines what the connection can do.
Interface type
How it works
API
The ATS talks to the board directly through its programmatic interface.
XML
Data is passed to the board by sending an XML file with a list of roles.
Custom application-form URL
A link to your own application form is inserted into the posting on the board. Very common
on international job boards; it tends to be an alternative to sending responses by email.
Webhooks
The board sends a candidate's response in JSON to an address you specify.
Ask the vendor whether their ATS supports exactly the boards you advertise on –
and whether it can also pull responses from them.
Ask the ATS vendor whether the connection is included in the price or charged for each board
separately. But that's only half of it.
Also check with the job board operators themselves whether they charge for the
connection – i.e. you, as their client. Companies are often caught off guard: the board asks for a fee
to have roles from the ATS published to it automatically and candidates pulled back
automatically.
There's a proven approach for this. Offer the job board that you'll buy a
larger advertising subscription and automate publishing – in exchange for waiving
the implementation fee. Boards usually go for it: they treat a larger commitment
as compensation for setting up the connection, or provide it for free.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. For a complete picture,
here's how our system handles the points above:
Multiposting to 35+ job boards from a single job posting.
Responses from job boards and career sites (Indeed, LinkedIn, niche boards and your own career site) are collected automatically, without re-typing.
A career site can be built directly on the system and connected via REST API.
LinkedIn has no response feed; you transfer candidates from it into Recruitis with a browser plugin in a few clicks. Automatically, this works by providing your own application-form URL where the candidate physically responds. If the ATS offers such a URL on the role, you can automate routing responses straight from LinkedIn ads into the role in the ATS.
Users are included in the price with no limit on their number, and board connections aren't charged for each one separately.
The specific list of boards varies by market. Verify with us and with other vendors
that yours are among them – it's the only thing that really matters on this point.
An ATS (Applicant Tracking System) — also called ATS software or
applicant tracking software — is recruitment software whose main job is to
unify candidate responses from different sources in one place – from job boards,
LinkedIn, career sites, referral programs, social media campaigns, and sourcing.
Only when the data is in one place can the system manage and measure hiring.
The ATS then guides the candidate through the whole selection process, lets recruiters and hiring managers
collaborate on evaluations and interviews, and finally provides
analytics and reporting you can use to improve hiring.
This is the primary and most important function of any ATS. Candidates come to you from many
directions, and without an ATS each ends up somewhere different:
job boards – in each board's admin panel separately,
career site – in the company email inbox,
LinkedIn – in a specific recruiter's messages,
referral program – in an email from a colleague,
social media and campaigns – in comments and messages,
sourcing – in the personal spreadsheet of whoever was searching.
The ATS brings these streams together and turns them into a single database that's actually worked with.
Without this step there's no point in dealing with anything else – all the other functions rest on it.
As long as your responses are in five different places, you have nothing to manage – and nothing to measure.
2. Guide the candidate through the process and collaborate with colleagues #
The second layer of an ATS is the selection process itself. The candidate moves through defined hiring
stages, and the system holds together everything happening around them: interview notes, dates,
evaluations from individual people, and the communication history.
The key word is collaboration. It's never just the recruiter involved in hiring –
hiring managers, teammates, and sometimes external partners take part too. The ATS gives them
a shared place where they see the same thing: who the candidate is, what stage they're in, what others said about them,
and what's expected of them. This eliminates hiring's most common bad habit – forwarding resumes over email
and deciding in one private conversation.
The third layer is the reason an ATS pays off even when the first two feel manageable
by hand. Because the data sits in one place and the process has defined stages, the system can calculate
what no one otherwise knows: where the best candidates come from, where the selection process stalls,
how long it takes to fill a role, and how many candidates are lost at each stage.
Typical metrics are time to hire (from the candidate's response to accepting the offer),
time to fill (from opening a role to closing it), the conversion funnel
between stages, and candidate source. Without them you don't manage hiring, you just process it.
An ATS is a system for managing the hiring process. Its goal is to capture the whole process
from the moment a request arises to the candidate's start date:
A manager's request to open a role, its approval, and opening the role.
Publishing the posting in various places – to job boards and the career site.
Collecting candidates in one place, including those found through sourcing, i.e. active searching.
Your own hiring process that you set up: pre-screening, interview scheduling, interview
notes, and several further rounds depending on how you've built the process.
Ending a candidate at any stage and communicating with them – information about progress
and about the outcome of the selection.
Cooperation with the hiring manager: the person who requested the role comments
on the candidate's relevance, in some processes approves them, and continues the process alongside the recruiter.
An offer to the candidate (a hiring proposal), where you tell them on what
terms and when you're offering them the start.
Once the candidate accepts the offer, the process formally ends in the ATS. Some ATS platforms
let you continue with pre-boarding, but that usually belongs to specialized onboarding tools
or to HRIS systems.
An HRIS (HR information system) covers the whole HR process, including attendance and payroll.
Some HRIS platforms allow a simplified hiring process too – but because they don't specialize in it, hiring in them
is often just a plain list of candidates that you also usually have to
enter manually.
That's exactly why ATS platforms have been gaining popularity: they specialize in the hiring process and automate even the
parts an HRIS doesn't treat as essential.
An ATS is sometimes called a "CRM for HR". The analogy makes sense: a CRM is used
in sales and works with leads and opportunities. In an ATS, the leads are candidates and the opportunity
is the effort to hire a candidate for a role – the equivalent of closing a deal.
Even so, it's not right to call an ATS that. A CRM is purely for sales. By analogy it may
handle very similar things, but it isn't tailored the way an ATS is.
Excel is the evolutionary predecessor of the ATS – a spreadsheet in which some companies
easily and clearly shared, and still share, candidates. But you have to approach it knowing that
it automates nothing and all data has to be typed into it. For professional management
of the hiring process it's not an ideal approach.
System
What it handles
Relationship to an ATS
ATS
Managing the hiring process from a request to open a role to accepting the offer.
—
HRIS
The whole HR process including attendance and payroll.
Hiring in it is just a list of candidates you have to enter manually.
CRM
Sales: leads and opportunities.
An analogy of the ATS ("CRM for HR"), but not tailored to hiring.
Excel
A spreadsheet for sharing candidates.
The evolutionary predecessor of the ATS. Automates nothing, data is re-typed.
As a rule of thumb, an ATS starts to make sense once a company advertises
at least fifteen roles a year. But the number of postings only decides part of it.
You need to look at it through three lenses.
What matters is the volume of candidates, not the number of postings. For a high-volume role – typically
call-center hiring – a single open role can be enough for an ATS to make sense.
Hundreds of candidates pass through it, and without a system you can't manage them.
3. What you want to gain or change by adopting an ATS #
This is the lens most often forgotten. Even a very small company with very little internal
hiring may need an ATS – for example when it wants to be candidate-focused
and come across that way externally throughout the selection process. There it can make sense to get an ATS
even at five postings a year.
The reason may also be that you want a platform where you share candidates
sourced from LinkedIn. You might be hiring for just three or four roles continuously,
where you've had a long-term shortage of people, while wanting to build a
unified candidate pool inside your ATS.
Recruitis facts
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we cover the three layers described above:
Unifying data: multiposting and automated collection of responses from 35+ job boards, the career site, and via the plugin from LinkedIn too.
Process and collaboration: a kanban pipeline with custom hiring stages, evaluations and notes shared with hiring managers, and interview scheduling.
Measurement: reports and BI dashboards over hiring, SLA tracking and candidate NPS measurement.
We run the system in the EU with privacy in mind; users are included in the price with no limit on their number.
Where Recruitis won't help: we're an ATS, not an HRIS. Our role ends when the offer is accepted –
we don't handle attendance, payroll, or employee records. For that you need an HR system
and a connection to it.
Which recruitment software should a small HR team choose? #
A small HR team should look for a simple ATS that does four things: it unifies candidate responses in one place without re-typing, gets
hiring managers inside the system instead of forwarding resumes over email, standardizes
the hiring process into a defined workflow, and keeps an eye on data-retention deadlines
and response speed toward candidates. Don't decide by the number of features – decide by whether
the system will actually be used by managers too. You don't need anything complicated, but you do need to bring
every user involved in hiring into the system.
Most small HR teams have no ATS today. Candidate data is re-typed manually from boards
and emails into Excel, notes go into another column, and the spreadsheet is then shared with managers,
who add their evaluations to it.
And let's be honest: this approach isn't dumb. It's cheap, everyone knows it, and for a single
open role it works. The problem isn't Excel as such – the problem is three things that
accumulate around it: re-typing data, the absence of privacy automation,
and above all forwarding candidates over email.
The hidden cost of forwarding resumes over email #
This is where the whole problem begins and ends. The moment a recruiter forwards a resume to a manager
by email, the document leaves any system – and with it, so does anyone accountable for it.
A candidate's personal data should be kept only for as long as necessary, or for the duration of a
consent, if the candidate gave one beyond the specific selection process. But:
After the selection ends, no one goes to the manager to delete the emails with resumes.
Two years on, no one even remembers them.
So the data stays in mailboxes far longer than it should.
An ATS solves this by not sending the resume anywhere – the manager looks at the candidate in the system.
Deadlines are then tracked by software, not human memory.
Consequence two: a process you can't measure or complete #
When a recruiter sends thirty emails to thirty managers, they lose track of who replied
and who didn't. They have no way to find out where hiring stalled, or whom to send a reminder to. Every
candidate knows the result: they get no answer to their application.
It's not ill will. It's the result of running the process in a tool that isn't built for it.
Once a resume leaves the ATS, no one is left accountable for it – neither for privacy
nor for replying to the candidate.
A small team doesn't need a complicated system. But it needs one that brings in
all the people and all the sources. Specifically:
Unify responses in one place without re-typing. Candidates from boards,
the career site and LinkedIn fall straight into the system. It's especially worth creating an
original career site that captures your USP in the labor market – a
clear answer to the question of why someone should come work for you. Multiposting ·
Job boards ·
Career site
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we work for small HR teams:
Users are included in the price with no limit on their number. You can add all your hiring managers and pay nothing extra for them – the trap described above doesn't apply with us.
Managers work in the system, not in email: they have simplified views, shared candidates and ratings.
Privacy we handle automatically – retention periods, consent expiry, anonymization. We host data in the EU.
Workflows you set up per type of role, including an SLA on candidate processing.
On the commitment, straight up: subscriptions are for a year. But an annual commitment doesn't mean
you have to pay everything up front – payment can be split into installments by arrangement,
so even a small team with tight cash flow can fit it in. If you need a monthly subscription
cancelable anytime, though, you'll be happier elsewhere.
For a recruitment agency, what matters is team size and way of working, not the length of the feature list.
A boutique agency of two or three recruiters doesn't need a robust CRM for managing clients –
the core of its system is a strong ATS focused on searching its own talent pool
and active sourcing on LinkedIn. Mid-size and large agencies, by contrast, care
that ATS costs don't grow disproportionately with the number of recruiters and that the system gives them a technological edge
over competitors. Across all sizes, two things hold: LinkedIn integration is a must,
including transferring the conversation history with the candidate, and the system has to be able to make the work done visible
to both the client and the candidate.
Unlocks the agency-features section in the catalog above and hides the ones that don't concern agencies.
First, be honest about what kind of agency you are #
Agency type
Core of the system
Boutique (2–3 recruiters)
Talent pool and LinkedIn sourcing.
Mid-size (6–15 recruiters)
Breadth of services for the client and standardized outputs.
An agency of two or three recruiters usually has a handful of chosen clients it cares for over the long term.
So it doesn't need a system that can track hundreds of leads and sales opportunities. It knows its clients by name.
What it needs is strong candidate work: quickly searching its own talent pool,
actively sourcing on LinkedIn, and getting found profiles into the system without re-typing.
From there it shares them directly with the client.
A boutique agency's main competitive advantage is the speed with which it can deliver candidates.
Its ATS selection should aim at exactly that. Look for a system that won't slow the process down –
ideally speeds it up – and that keeps that speed even as it grows.
Mid-size agency: breadth of services and the ability to sell your own work #
A mid-size agency's advantage is that it can offer the client a breadth of services – from
candidate longlists through pre-screening to full-process hiring. The goal should therefore
be to sell its work to the client well while also improving relationships with candidates.
Toward the client, graphical exports are useful, describing how many candidates were
in which round and how much work the agency did. Toward the candidate, you need to continuously measure
their satisfaction.
A key feature is also external candidate sharing – for professionalism
and so candidates aren't forwarded over email.
Once an agency has more than five recruiters, the economics of the system start to decide the outcome.
A pricing model charged per user means every new recruiter makes the software more expensive – and at an agency
that grows by hiring people, that adds up fast.
The second question is competitive. Agencies compete on the speed and quality of their shortlist. A system
that can automate repetitive steps, standardize outputs and offer a candidate before the
competition is a business advantage, not an operating cost.
What holds for everyone: LinkedIn isn't a nice-to-have #
For an agency, LinkedIn is the primary hunting ground, so integration with it is a must-have
regardless of size. The ATS has to let you download a candidate's profile in a few clicks
and create a card from it in the system without manual re-typing.
Ask about one thing separately, because it gets forgotten: can the system also transfer the
message history you exchanged with the candidate on LinkedIn? Without it you lose
the context of the first contact – and that's exactly the part of the conversation no one remembers six months later.
How things stand with downloading LinkedIn profiles #
There's a lot of confusion among recruiters about LinkedIn sourcing, so let's set it straight:
LinkedIn doesn't allow fully automated scraping. Tools that promise
unlimited automatic profile collection act against the network's rules and risk getting accounts blocked.
The legitimate route is a human-operated plugin. The recruiter opens a profile
and transfers it to the ATS with one click – it's not an autonomous bot running on its own.
LinkedIn tracks the number of downloads per day. The key one is the limit on resumes
downloaded per account; exceeding it risks a temporary restriction or a block. This risk
sits with LinkedIn itself, not a specific ATS.
A good tool helps you with this – for example by letting you turn off automatic
resume downloads, so you don't touch the limit and transfer only the profile itself.
So ask a vendor not just "do you support LinkedIn?", but above all how you handle it and what risk
it carries for your accounts.
AI makes sense earlier for agencies than for companies, because they work with a larger volume of candidates and speed
is their product. Two uses are worth attention.
When a new role opens, the system itself suggests candidates from past hires who fit it.
Especially valuable are those who already went through selection at another client who
rejected them for its own reasons. They're not bad – they just didn't fit there.
A candidate rejected by one client is often a fit for another – which is exactly why an agency's own
talent pool is so valuable.
The system itself suggests candidates on LinkedIn who match the criteria of an open role and offers
them right in the ATS. It saves the most laborious part of sourcing – the first pass through the search results.
This is a point you won't find in any ATS comparison, yet it decides whether the client
sees your price as justified.
An agency's work is partly invisible to the client: they don't see how many candidates you contacted
and how many interviews you ran – they see three recommended resumes and an invoice.
A large part of an agency's work is invisible to the client – and often to the candidate too.
No one sees how many people you reached out to, how many interviews you ran, and how many profiles you screened out
before recommending the top three. A good agency ATS can report this work automatically.
So ask about the outputs:
A report on the number of candidates contacted and the number of interviews conducted.
A shortlist presentation – the three best candidates in graphical form that can be sent to the client.
Graphical offers toward the candidate and support for their start with the client.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. What of the above we can do:
The talent pool is built from candidates who responded to you in the past; you can recycle them into new roles and categorize them with custom tags.
LinkedIn sourcing via a browser plugin – you transfer a profile into the system without re-typing.
AI sourcing on LinkedIn suggests candidates matching the criteria of an open role.
AI recommendations from the talent pool – when a new role opens, the system itself suggests suitable candidates from your past hires.
Sharing candidates with the client including interaction on them, and with hiring managers.
Working with clients: you create and filter roles and candidates by a specific client.
Users are included in the price with no limit on their number, so growing the recruiter team doesn't make the software more expensive.
What you won't find with us: a full agency CRM – i.e. tracking leads,
a sales pipeline, contracts and invoicing – we don't have. We can distinguish and filter roles and candidates by
client, but you'll have to keep the sales and invoicing side elsewhere. If you're looking for one system
for both hiring and sales, we're not it.
On LinkedIn, straight up: even when AI suggests candidates, the profile transfer itself is
initiated by the recruiter via the plugin – it's not an automatic bot. Our plugin doesn't track any limits
itself; but because a human operates it and it doesn't behave autonomously, that's not a problem – except for
one thing. LinkedIn itself tracks the number of resumes downloaded per day, and exceeding it
risks getting the account blocked. The plugin therefore offers the option to turn off automatic resume downloads.
If someone promises you unlimited, fully automatic LinkedIn sourcing, you risk getting your
accounts blocked – this risk applies to every honest tool on the market, not just to us.
Which ATS can handle multiple recruiters and role approvals? #
Once hiring involves more than one recruiter, two things matter. The first is the pricing model:
look for a system where you don't pay for each user account separately but one price for a chosen scope of features.
The second is role approvals via requisitions – i.e. requests to open a role, from which
a job posting is created and published to boards only after approval. Systems built for multiple users
also bring SSO (single sign-on, which corporate cybersecurity now often
requires), roles and access rights, a shared talent pool, and candidate
recommendations from other recruiters' hires. Requisitions are also the only way to meaningfully
track FTE in an ATS – i.e. how many full-time roles you're actually hiring for.
Requisitions, approvals and the FTE report concern internal hiring – they unlock in the catalog once you select company.
With multiple recruiters, the pricing model decides #
If the ATS charges for each user account, you'll start counting licenses. And once you start counting them,
you'll start cutting them: you won't add a junior recruiter, you won't add a hiring manager, you won't add a colleague
who takes part in hiring only occasionally.
But that takes you right back where you were running from – to forwarding
candidates over email. A system you can't afford to give to everyone involved in hiring
doesn't fulfill its main function.
So look for a model where you pay for a scope of features, not per head. For a growing team,
it's by far the most important line in the contract.
As the number of people in the system grows, requirements appear that a single recruiter never missed:
SSO (single sign-on). Users log in with their corporate identity, and accounts are created
and removed centrally. It's not just convenience – at larger companies cybersecurity usually
requires it, and without SSO the system won't pass IT approval. SSO ·
Azure SSO ·
Google SSO ·
Two-factor authentication
A requisition is a request to open a role. In it a manager
describes who they need and why; the requisition goes through approval – typically by a superior and finance – and
only after approval does a job posting come out of it, which is published to the career site
and job boards.
That order is the whole point. Without a requisition, a posting appears the moment someone writes it.
With a requisition, it appears only when the role is genuinely approved and funded.
FTE (full-time equivalent) expresses how many full-time
roles a company is actually hiring for. It's not the same as the number of postings – one posting can mean ten
roles, and three postings can mean one.
Because the number of roles being filled is tracked in the requisition, the ATS can build reporting on top of it
that you otherwise have nowhere to get: how many roles were filled in a given period against
approved requisitions, and how many are still open.
Without a requisition you don't know how many people (FTE) you're actually hiring for. You only know how many postings you have live.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we handle the points above:
Users are included in the price with no limit on their number. You pay for a scope of features, not per head – a tenth recruiter or a fifth manager doesn't change the price.
Requisitions we track: managers submit requests to open new roles and you have an overview of roles by status.
FTE we track on the requisition and feed into reporting – how many roles are approved, how many already filled, and how many still open.
SSO we connect to your identity provider (e.g. Microsoft Azure / Entra ID), and we support 2FA and management of roles and access rights.
The talent pool is built from candidates from past hires, which can be recycled into new roles across recruiters. When a new role opens, AI can suggest suitable candidates itself.
We run the infrastructure in ISO 27001 data centers, with encrypted transfer and regular independent penetration testing.
Where to be careful – with us and elsewhere: an approval workflow looks simple in every demo.
Have it shown to you on your real scenario: how many approval levels you need,
who may reject a requisition, and how a part-time role flows into the FTE report.
It's in exactly these details that systems differ the most.
Which ATS has good email and calendar integration? #
You can spot good integration by three things. First: the ATS sends email from your company's own
domain, so the candidate receives the message just as if the recruiter had sent it from Outlook or
Gmail. Second: the system can sync communication with the candidate – there are three
technical models, and they differ mainly in how much mailbox access you give the system. Third: the calendar
works both ways – the ATS sees free slots including colleagues' shared calendars,
and a scheduled interview writes back into Google Calendar or Outlook, including a Google Meet
or Teams link. The top tier is then a booking link that lets the candidate pick a slot
with no risk of a clash.
This isn't cosmetic. When the ATS sends candidates messages from an unfamiliar address, the candidate doesn't recognize the sender,
the reply gets lost, and deliverability drops. So the system has to be able to send under your domain –
as if the email had gone out straight from Outlook or Gmail.
The most common route is to connect a specific email account via authorization, from which
messages go out. So verify with the vendor that the integration works with Microsoft 365 (Outlook)
and Google Workspace (Gmail).
There's also a variant where the ATS connects directly to your company's email servers
using SPF and DKIM records. But that gives the vendor's server the right to send practically any email under your domain,
and from a security standpoint it therefore tends not to be preferred.
Three ways to sync communication with the candidate #
The goal is for the whole conversation with the candidate to stay in the ATS – including what the recruiter wrote from their own
mailbox and what the candidate replied. This can be achieved in three ways. They're not equal.
Model
How it works
Advantage
Disadvantage
1. Plugin (manual)
An add-in in Outlook or Gmail with which the recruiter saves a chosen conversation into the ATS – or creates a candidate straight from an email.
Full control over what gets saved. The cleanest for security.
Depends on the recruiter's discipline. What they don't save isn't in the system.
2. System email
The ATS has its own address that you put in copy. Everything that passes through it is recorded on the candidate.
Works automatically, and the system has no access to your mailbox.
Records only what passes through copy – and the address in copy can be removed manually.
3. Direct mailbox connection
The ATS connects to the mail account and reads all incoming messages.
Nothing slips through, the recruiter has to do nothing.
A security risk. Most companies won't allow it from a cybersecurity standpoint.
Calendar integration is often reduced to "I see my meetings in the ATS". That's not enough. Useful integration
has two directions.
Direction 1: the ATS sees availability – including colleagues' #
The system reads not just your calendar but also the ones you have shared in Outlook or Google Calendar.
When scheduling an interview you can transparently see when the hiring manager and another panel
colleague are free, and propose a time correctly the first time.
Direction 2: an interview from the ATS writes back into the calendar #
When you create an interview in the ATS, the event appears in the chosen calendar (or several at once)
and a standard invitation goes out from it. For an online interview the system immediately generates a meeting link –
Microsoft Teams with Outlook, Google Meet with Google – and inserts it
into the invitation.
The result is that in the ATS you have a clear list of interview times, a direct call link
for an online meeting, and the branch address for an in-person interview where the candidate should arrive.
Instead of email ping-pong along the lines of "would Thursday work for you?", send the candidate a
booking link. It's tied to your calendar and follows rules you
set – how long the slot is, the earliest and latest you can book, and the buffer between
interviews.
The candidate picks a time that suits them, and you're guaranteed it will never clash
with another event in your calendar. More advanced variants can also factor in several external calendars
at once, or create a multi-slot where several candidates sign up for one time –
typically for an assessment center.
Booking links are becoming standard. To a candidate they signal that the company is technically mature
and that it builds hiring around their convenience, not the recruiter's.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we handle integration:
We connect to Microsoft 365 (Outlook) and Google Workspace (Gmail) – you authorize a specific email account and we send from it under your company's own domain.
Of the three sync models we offer the first two: an Outlook and Gmail plugin (manually saving a conversation or creating a candidate straight from an email) and a system email address in copy that records communication between recruiter and candidate.
The calendar we connect two-way: you see your own availability and colleagues' shared calendars, and a scheduled interview writes back into the calendar. For an online meeting a Teams or Google Meet link is generated into the invitation.
Booking links let the candidate pick a free slot by your rules, with no risk of a clash.
What we deliberately don't do: the third model – a direct connection to your mailbox,
where the ATS would read all incoming messages – we don't offer. Most companies won't allow it for security reasons
anyway, and we don't want access to your mail.
And on the system email, straight up: we add the system address to copy
automatically every time you send an email from the system – even when you just hit
"reply" (you don't have to "reply all"). The recruiter doesn't have to think about it. But only what
passes through copy is recorded: the address in copy can be removed manually by both recruiter and candidate.
What platform should a growing company choose to unify job postings and applicants? #
The category you're looking for is an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) – recruitment
software that unifies applicants from different sources in one place and also enables
multiposting, i.e. publishing a single posting from one place to your career site
and to multiple job boards. For a growing company, also insist on LinkedIn sourcing
support and, above all, on a transparent pricing model: choose an ATS
with a per-company license, not per individual user. Otherwise team growth
will have the system punishing you – and the company will end up sharing a single account among several people, something no ATS
was ever designed for.
Growing companies usually look for "some kind of hiring platform" and don't realize the product has an established
name. It's an ATS – Applicant Tracking System. Its main job
is exactly what you need: getting all applicants in one place and, from there, managing postings
and the whole selection process.
You write the text of a role once and from there, in one step, publish it to the career site and job boards.
This removes re-typing, diverging versions of the text, and postings left live somewhere even after the role is filled.
We cover this in detail in the section on
how connecting an ATS to job boards works.
Responses from boards and the career site are pulled into the ATS automatically. But at a growing company the share
of candidates no one reached via a posting grows too – you find them actively on LinkedIn.
So insist that the system can download a candidate's profile straight from LinkedIn
and create a card from it without manual re-typing. Otherwise that part of hiring stays outside the system
and unifying applicants is only half done.
The pricing model decides more than the feature list #
For a growing company this is the most important criterion, yet it's only discovered after signing.
There are two basic models:
Model
How it's calculated
What it does to a growing company
Per-company license
One price for a chosen scope of features. Users are included.
The cost is predictable. You put everyone involved in hiring into the system.
Per-user license
You pay for each account separately, usually monthly.
Every new colleague makes the software more expensive. The company starts counting – and cutting – licenses.
A per-company license gives a growing company two things that are hard to quantify but you notice right away:
a transparent annual cost and the ability to use the system to its full extent,
without wondering whether that next account is still worth it.
The consequence usually isn't the one the vendor expects. The company won't buy the licenses – but won't stop using the system.
Instead, it starts sharing one account among several people.
Sharing one account among several users creates a host of problems and ambiguities
the system was never designed for.
And this is where it all falls apart, because no ATS was designed for this scenario:
You don't know who did what. The activity history and audit log lose meaning when everything is recorded under a single user.
Roles and rights can't be set. The shared account sees everything – including roles and candidates it shouldn't.
Notifications go to everyone, meaning no one. No one feels they're the recipient of a task.
Data-protection accountability dissolves. You can't trace who accessed a candidate's personal data.
Security collapses. The shared password floats around in chat, 2FA can't be enforced, and a colleague leaving doesn't mean their access is removed.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we work for growing companies:
You pay a per-company license, not per user. Users are included in the price with no limit on their number, so team growth doesn't change the price and you have no reason to share accounts.
Multiposting to 35+ job boards from a single job posting, including publishing to your career site.
LinkedIn sourcing via a browser plugin; AI additionally suggests candidates matching the role's criteria.
Roles and access rights, 2FA and connection to corporate SSO – i.e. everything a shared account makes impossible.
On the commitment, straight up: subscriptions are for a year. But payment can be split
into installments by arrangement, so an annual commitment doesn't mean you have to pay everything up front.
If you need a monthly subscription cancelable anytime, you'll be happier elsewhere.
What tool can handle both hiring and candidate communication? #
An ATS (Applicant Tracking System), again. But "handling hiring" doesn't mean having one
prescribed process – it means you set up your own hiring flow
and set it up differently for each type of role. Communication then automates itself, because you attach
an email template with variables to each hiring stage: the correct salutation form for the
candidate's language, text that adapts to the candidate's gender, or
a dynamically inserted date of the scheduled interview. You send and
sync the messages through Gmail (Google Workspace) and Outlook (Microsoft 365).
Hiring: the system should adapt to you, not the other way around #
Hiring a warehouse worker doesn't look like hiring a developer, and that in turn doesn't look like hiring a sales director.
In some cases a phone call and a start date are enough; in others there are three interview rounds, a technical task, and offer approval.
A good ATS therefore doesn't dictate one process for everyone. It lets you define your own hiring
stages and run a different workflow for a different type of role.
Once hiring has defined stages, communication can be attached to them. You assign a template to each stage
– an interview invitation, a rejection after the first round, a job offer – and the system offers it
the moment you move the candidate.
The effect is subtle but crucial: the reply to a candidate isn't sent by the recruiter's memory but by the process.
That's exactly why, in systems with tied templates, the number of candidates who get
no feedback at all drops dramatically.
Variables in templates: why some languages are harder #
A template shouldn't be one text for everyone. Variables (placeholders) are inserted into the text,
which the system fills in based on the specific candidate.
Variable
What it fills in
Salutation
The candidate's name in the correct form. Optionally addressing them by first name or last name.
Gender
Word forms based on the candidate's gender, where the language requires it.
Interview date
The time arranged in the interview-scheduling stage.
Interview location
The physical branch where the interview takes place.
Time zone
The interview time converted to the zone the candidate is in.
Recruiter signature
The signature of the recruiter handling the candidate.
Some languages exact a price here: they inflect names or use gendered word forms, where English simply doesn't.
If you hire in multiple languages, ask about
templates for different languages.
Emails aren't just text. They also contain a number of buttons wired to specific system
functions, through which the candidate does something directly:
Accepting a job offer
Giving privacy consent
Requesting deletion of their data – usually in the footer of every email
The pinnacle is being able to set your own email design template following your
brand guidelines, so messages to candidates match the company's visual style.
You send messages from the ATS under your own domain, and you can also keep writing from your own mailbox – via the
Outlook and Gmail plugin, or via a system email address in copy that
records the conversation automatically. We cover the technical integration models and their security implications
in the section on connecting an ATS to email and calendar.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we handle the points above:
Custom workflows: every role can have different hiring stages, set up to match how you actually select.
Templates tied to hiring stages, with variables for salutation, word forms based on the candidate's gender, and dynamic insertion of the scheduled interview date.
Templates for different languages, including the correct foreign-language salutation form.
You handle communication through Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, and we send email from your domain.
Message sync via the Outlook and Gmail plugin or via a system email address in copy.
Straight up: we add the system address to copy automatically
every time an email is sent from the system, so the recruiter doesn't have to think about it; but the address in copy can be
removed manually by both recruiter and candidate. We don't offer a direct connection to your mailbox –
for security reasons, which we cover
under email integration.
Which hiring tool has simple candidate management? #
Look for an ATS that lets you set up a custom view – the columns you
want to see in the candidate list – or a kanban board where candidates sit
in columns by the stage they're in. The system should remember and save your preferred
layout and view. You can customize and sort individual list items.
You then share candidates with managers, most conveniently
through a mobile app built for managers – it's the fastest way to get
feedback from them and collaborate with them.
Hiring-manager features unlock in the catalog once you select company (the guide hides them for agencies).
There's no single right way to look at candidates. It's a very subjective thing:
some people like the list view, some like kanban.
View
What it looks like
Kanban
Candidates as cards in columns by the stage they're in.
List view
A table where each candidate is a row and you choose the columns.
One note from practice: kanban stops being clear once you have a larger number of
candidates. But don't turn it into a math problem of which is better. A good ATS has both views
and lets you switch between them.
Every recruiter tracks something different. Some need to see the candidate's source and response date,
others expected salary and location. So the system has to let you choose columns,
sort them, and above all remember the setup.
The system should remember and save your preferred view – whether you choose
custom columns or kanban.
A seeming trifle that decides whether people enjoy using the system. So ask
whether each user's view is saved per user, or whether the setup
is shared across the whole company.
The other half of "simple management" doesn't concern the recruiter but the person they send candidates to.
Hiring rarely stalls on the recruiter's side.
That's why the fastest route to feedback is a mobile app for hiring managers.
The manager gets a notification, opens the candidate on their phone between two meetings, looks at the
resume and rates them on the spot – with a thumbs-up, stars, or a short note.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we handle candidate management:
We offer both a kanban and a list view of candidates, and you can switch between them.
Custom views: you choose and sort columns, and the system remembers your preferred view.
Sharing candidates with hiring managers, who have simplified views and need no training.
A mobile app for managers – the fastest way to get feedback and candidate ratings from them.
Users are included in the price with no limit on their number, so you don't have to deny managers access because of licenses.
Straight up: the mobile app targets managers and their feedback.
It won't replace the recruiter's full work – setting up workflows, bulk actions, reporting – on a phone,
and we don't try to make it.
Whatever your hiring volume, you're handling other people's personal data, and a good ATS should make
responsible handling the default rather than something you have to remember. This section is deliberately
kept at the level of principles – data minimization, sensible retention and deletion,
access controls, transparency toward candidates, and privacy by design. Depending on where you hire,
specific laws may apply on top of these principles.
This is not legal advice – confirm the requirements with your own counsel.
Data minimization. Collect only what you actually need to evaluate the candidate for the role,
and don't hold on to fields you'll never use.
Retention and deletion. Keep candidate data only as long as there's a reason to, then delete or
anonymize it. A good ATS tracks retention automatically instead of leaving it to a recruiter's memory,
and can anonymize records once a period lapses.
Access controls. Not everyone should see every candidate. Roles, access rights and an audit trail
keep personal data visible only to the people who need it.
Transparency. Be clear with candidates about who holds their data, why, and how they can
ask to access or delete it – ideally with a one-click way to opt out in every message.
Privacy by design. The safest data is the data you never scattered in the first place. Keeping
candidates inside the ATS – rather than forwarding resumes around by email – is itself a privacy control, because
the software, not a dozen inboxes, holds and ages the data.
Concretely, look for automated retention windows, automatic anonymization once a period expires, and a way for
candidates to remove their own data in one click from the footer of any message. These turn the principles above
from good intentions into something the system enforces.
Laws that may apply, depending on where you hire #
The specifics vary by market. In the United States, for example, laws such as the
CCPA/CPRA in California may apply; in Canada, PIPEDA may apply. There are many
others, and rules change. Treat this only as context, not as an authoritative statement of what applies to you –
the right move is to map your own hiring footprint with counsel.
Recruitis facts
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we support responsible data handling:
Automated retention: you set how long candidate data is kept, and the system tracks expiry and anonymizes on time.
One-click opt-out: every message can carry a link that lets a candidate permanently remove their data from the whole database.
Access controls: roles, access rights, 2FA and an audit log keep personal data visible only to those who need it.
EU hosting: we run the system in the EU, in ISO 27001 data centers with regular independent penetration testing.
Straight up: this section is not legal advice and we are not lawyers. Confirm the specific
retention periods, notices and deletion practices for your markets with your own counsel or data-protection officer.
Sourcing on LinkedIn: how to do it right without getting blocked #
LinkedIn is the primary sourcing ground for most recruiters, and the practical question is a technical one:
how do you get a profile into your ATS without risking your account? LinkedIn actively resists
automation, so the legitimate route is a human-operated plugin, not an autonomous scraper – and
even then you have to respect the daily limit on downloaded resumes that LinkedIn itself enforces.
On the privacy side, treat a sourced candidate's data the same as any other candidate's; see
candidate data & privacy for the principles. This is not legal advice.
LinkedIn tries to prevent automations and plugins that scrape its data. So if someone offers you
fully automated profile downloading, you risk getting the account blocked.
Some tools do it "cleverly" – they pace how fast they click through profiles and mimic human behavior, so they're
harder for LinkedIn to detect and a block may not be imminent. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a gray area.
A plugin with no autonomous part – i.e. one that doesn't browse profiles on its own – does only this: on the candidate's
page it finds the contact details and the messages you exchange, pre-fills them into the plugin's form, and sends them
to the ATS via an API. It does nothing prohibited, so no detection risk comes from it.
Even so, a block can still happen – the moment you download a larger volume of data.
Typically when you click download resume on a candidate (i.e. convert their profile
to PDF). Every account, including recruiter accounts and Sales Navigator, has a daily limit on downloaded
resumes. Exceed it, and LinkedIn blocks you.
This limit applies whether you download manually or via a plugin. You can get your account blocked with no plugin at all.
That's why a good plugin lets you turn off automatic resume downloads. You can then transfer candidate
contacts by the hundred – useful at tech companies, where volume is key – and download the resume itself only on demand,
with one click on a specific candidate.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we handle LinkedIn sourcing:
A human-operated plugin, not an autonomous bot – it pre-fills contacts and messages from a profile and sends them to the ATS via an API.
Turning off automatic resume downloads: you transfer only contacts, and convert a resume to PDF only on demand – so you don't touch LinkedIn's daily limit.
Privacy automation: a custom retention period, expiry tracking, and automatic anonymization once it lapses.
Straight up: the plugin itself doesn't track any LinkedIn limits – that's on LinkedIn's side.
And this article is not legal advice. Have your exact sourcing setup and data-handling practices reviewed by your own
counsel or data-protection officer.
Career sites: what content to include, what not to forget, and what to think through carefully #
Your career site is the shop window of your employer brand. The most accurate
comparison is an e-shop: the "products" are your open positions, and you want to sell them to the
right candidates. Success isn't decided by technology but by content — and content
rests on five things: an authentic take on why you (USP / EVP), a clear
job listing (with its own filters at larger companies), capturing candidates
even without a suitable position into a talent pool, a well-built
job detail (variable layout, ideally including pay), and the simplest possible
application form right inside the posting. And as with an e-shop, the same rule
applies: the site alone won't bring anyone in — it needs marketing to get candidates there.
Before you even build the site, answer this: who are you and why should someone come work
for you. This is called the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) — the unique thing that sets
your company apart — and the EVP (Employee Value Proposition), the value you offer employees. A
candidate should feel it from the content right away.
The keyword is authenticity. Don't try to please everyone — it doesn't work. Speak
to the people who genuinely match your company's DNA. A well-defined USP also comes
before building the site itself: first get clear on who you are, and only then express it in the
content (text, photos, videos).
If you're not sure how to articulate your USP, it pays to bring in someone who does it professionally.
A specialized employer-branding agency can help you pin down your USP inside the
company and produce the content — including videos, photos, and copy.
Job listing — and when you actually need filters #
With the job listing, first get clear on which category of company you fall into. That tells you
whether you're dealing with a simple list or full-blown filtering.
A small or mid-sized company — say a tech company with 80–100 employees and 5–7
permanently open positions — doesn't need strong filters. For a candidate, an
interesting job title at first glance, combined with location, rough compensation,
and the main requirements, is enough; they'll get the details once they click through. Building
filters, sorting, and categories for fewer than seven positions is pointless.
A mid-sized to larger company with 20–30 open positions — especially if it's
branch-based or retail, hiring across multiple locations (multi-location) — already
needs to show up front which locations it's hiring
in and let candidates filter. And it often wants to organize positions by its own
categories as well.
Here you'll run into a feature that not every ATS supports: custom filter attributes.
The idea is to create your own attributes (identifiers) for positions, which then drive filtering on
the career site — so you're not stuck with the industry categories from job boards. Those try to
cover every field in the world, which makes them unsuitable for an individual approach: when you want
to separate "product people, marketing people, and IT people" and label them that way too. At
corporations the categories go even further — not just by field, but for example whether it's a
position at a store, at headquarters, or in the back office. A good solution won't
stop you from creating several types of categories at once (say your own regions),
so filtering isn't limited to just a specific branch.
For a longer list, also think about pagination and how the listing behaves during
filtering and display.
Don't forget candidates without a suitable position (talent pool) #
Some of the people who like your brand won't find their position among the open ones. Yet they'd
still like to work for you — and you don't want to lose them. Some companies call this a
catch-all position; in reality it's an inflow of candidates into your
talent pool.
Two things go with this. First, the process: such candidates mustn't just be
"saved" with nothing happening — there has to be a defined procedure for working with them actively.
Second, the form placement: we recommend putting it a bit off to the side, on a
separate page, so it doesn't push candidates to apply immediately before they've
looked through the open positions.
In the catch-all form (which doesn't lead to a specific position), identify the
candidate: ask what role they'd like to do, ideally letting them tag themselves with a category
(product person, IT person…). The recruiter then isn't flying blind — even without an open position,
they can pitch an interesting candidate internally to their team leads. And don't forget that here,
too, you need to handle candidates' personal data properly and get their agreement
to be kept in your talent pool (we cover this in a separate section on candidate data and privacy).
When a candidate clicks a position, they land on the job detail. And here it pays to have a
variable layout: a back-office posting should be marketed to a different group than
an IT posting, so it should look different too.
Variable text, branch, and the assigned
team leader / manager are a given. The graphics are more interesting: they can be
driven by dynamic attributes that the ATS supports. Imagine a position filed under
the "IT" category has a different top banner — different photos or a carousel. The important thing is
that these graphics are prepared on the career-site side, not that you'd insert
images into the posting in the ATS; it's wired up on the site itself based on the position's
attribute. In the same way you can attach a profile of the team lead the candidate
will work under, or dynamic benefits — you pick a set of benefits (one for IT,
another for back office) and its visual treatment is again prepared on the site.
What we recommend today, and what was still up for debate a few years ago: state the
pay. Back to the e-shop analogy — would you buy a product without knowing roughly what it
costs? The counterargument "but we're choosing the candidate too, and we're willing to pay
differently for each one" only holds in part: even so, you can state a pay range you
can offer the candidate.
One recommendation stands out from our data as especially important: have the application form
right in the body of the posting — at the end, alongside, up front, it doesn't
matter — so the candidate doesn't have to click through anywhere. Often the form
only opens on the next step; but when the posting is visible and the form is right there with it,
conversion demonstrably rises.
A simple rule also applies: the less you ask for, the higher the conversion. A form
with 8–10 fields is nowhere near as attractive as name, email, and phone (optionally a cover letter
and CV). And for most positions a CV isn't necessary today — a LinkedIn link is
enough, and for some positions just a phone contact. Picture a laborer looking for work after twenty
years: the first barrier is often that they don't have a CV and don't know how to make one. A company
that asks only for a phone number gains a competitive edge — and the recruiter finds out the rest
from prescreening anyway; you won't judge a laborer's skill from a CV regardless.
And one technical detail with a content impact: the form should be connected via the ATS
API and able to send hidden source information too. The source is the
career site, but how the candidate got there (Facebook, Instagram, other social networks,
PPC) is marketing information you want to carry over. Google Analytics will measure that a candidate
applied — but whether they reached the interview stage (i.e., proved a certain
quality) you can only measure by sending the data inherited from cookies or the URL along with the
application. On the same principle, the career site also connects to an employee referral
program (we cover it in a separate article): a unique link with the employee's identifier in
the URL is written into the ATS on application and matches the candidate with whoever referred them.
A career site is an e-shop — it doesn't sell on its own #
Back to the opening analogy: building an e-shop doesn't mean you've started selling. Likewise a
career site won't bring candidates in on its own — you need marketing to get them
to the site.
The advantage of connecting the career site to your ATS is that you post a position with
a single click — to your career site and to job boards at the same time. And it
works the other way too: when you edit or close a position, the posting is updated or pulled
down everywhere at once.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, a Czech ATS. There are two ways to handle career sites with us:
On your own via the API — your IT team or your agency builds the career site and pulls the data (positions, forms, sources) from Recruitis via API and webhooks.
As a service from us — we build the career site to your company's brand guidelines, from a customized template to fully bespoke, typically within one working week, including referral-program integration.
A site from us also includes a CMS (Content Management System) — you log in and
write an article that publishes straight into the graphics and layout of your career site. It
supports all custom filter attributes, dynamic application forms,
and the inflow of candidates into the talent pool without a link to a specific
position.
On multilingual support: we can make the content pages of the
career site multilingual; an individual posting is always in one language.
Connecting your ATS to an HRIS and payroll: when it's worth it and what a good integration looks like #
Before you start tackling an integration between your ATS and an HR information system (HRIS), realize
one thing: in recruitment you record surprisingly few data points about a candidate
that are actually useful in an HRIS — name, contact, which position they applied for, on what terms,
and when they can start. And even those don't quite fit: a job title almost never equals the
catalog position in an HRIS. So you have to weigh this small set of data against the
cost and reliability of the integration. For a simple candidate handover, integration
often isn't worth it; the real value shows up only in robust flows — where open
positions are loaded from the HRIS into an offer, "locked," and the whole record is transferred into
onboarding. A topic of its own is then the preboarding questionnaire and separating
recruitment data from employee data (data protection).
How much recruitment data is actually useful in an HRIS? #
In the recruitment process you typically record first and last name, personal email and phone, which
position the candidate applied for, the terms on which you offered them a start, and when they can
start. That's all — and even that is only partly useful in an HRIS.
A good example is the job title. You won't find the posting "Looking for an HR buddy
with a love for people" in the contract or the HRIS — there it'll be a catalog position like
HR generalist. So the amount of data you'd be "retyping" into the HRIS is small, and part of
it has to be mapped to different values anyway.
So frame it as a cost-benefit equation: how much manual work the integration saves
versus what it costs and how reliably it will work when you need it.
When basic integration isn't worth it — and when it is #
In most real-world cases, it turns out that integrating the basic set of data isn't worth
it. The exception is very open systems that offer a simple API integration — there it can
make sense even for a few fields.
With large systems like SAP SuccessFactors, Taleo, or Workday, on the other hand,
expect the integration to be non-trivial: every HRIS implementation is a little
different at every company, so the connection is always something of a bespoke project.
What a robust HRIS integration looks like (with an example) #
The real power of the connection shows when the integration doesn't start at handing over a finished
candidate, but much earlier — at the offer, or even at the requisition. Let's
illustrate it with a robust model like the one used, for example, with SAP SuccessFactors.
Requisition from a manager. The integration can begin with loading the position
details entered by the manager from the HRIS.
Open "seats" (to be hired). When creating an offer, the positions open for hiring
are loaded from the HRIS — and with a view into the future too. A typical case:
someone is still sitting in the seat, but they're on notice or leaving for parental leave on a given
date; meanwhile you already need to make an offer to a candidate who may have a notice period of
their own. Being able to filter positions that open in, say, two months is essential here.
Parameters from position management. For each seat, attributes are loaded from the
HRIS — location, grade, manager, employment type, number of openings, and often benefits too.
Pre-filling the offer on the ATS side. This data is pre-filled into the offer form
in the ATS. You add the money and the start date, and the offer is generated in the company's design.
Locking the seat. On the HRIS side, the position is "locked" so it can't be offered
to another candidate. Unlocking isn't missing either — when a candidate declines
the offer, the manager doesn't approve it, or the candidate is rejected.
Transfer into onboarding. When the offer goes through, the seat and its data are
transferred to the next phase. The candidate then doesn't have just a first and last name, but a
whole record derived from the identifier of the specific position.
It's exactly these wrinkles (forward-looking positions, locking, unlocking, attribute mapping) that
make an HRIS integration demanding — and at the same time it's only here that it delivers real value.
Preboarding and the employee questionnaire: when and where to send it from #
Connecting to an HRIS also raises the question of when to send the candidate an employee
questionnaire — the form through which, in the preparatory (preboarding) phase, you collect
data for the contractual documentation: the exact permanent address, ID card number, date of birth,
and other data needed to register the employee and sign the contract.
Recommendation: if you don't use a dedicated preboarding/onboarding tool, send this questionnaire
from the HRIS — so the form populates data directly in the HRIS and, via dynamic
fields, creates the employee there for you. You can initiate the link to the
questionnaire for the candidate from the ATS too ("here, fill in this set of details for me").
A key advantage of this separation is legal: recruitment data and employee data are
typically held on different legal bases, with different retention and erasure
obligations. In practice that means an employee often can't simply have all their data erased on
request — statutory record-keeping duties (for example, retention for pension and social-security
purposes for a legally set number of years) can override an erasure request. This is not legal advice
— confirm the specifics with your own counsel.
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, a Czech ATS. Here's how we handle HRIS integration:
We already have proven experience integrating with SAP SuccessFactors, the HR system HiBob, and the Czech payroll/HR software Vema.
We'll also connect to other systems on request, provided they have an interface for integration (e.g., an API). Every HRIS integration is unique in its own way, so we handle each one individually.
Our SAP SuccessFactors integration is robust — it can load open and forward-looking positions, their parameters from position management, pre-fill and generate the offer, lock and unlock the seat, and transfer the whole record into onboarding.
For preboarding and onboarding we have a separate product, onbee.app; the employee questionnaire can thus be sent outside recruitment data.
What we deliberately don't do: we're not a payroll or attendance system and we
don't keep HR records of employees — those roles are filled by the HRIS/payroll; we
connect to them.
An ATS decision isn't made by the demo but by the questions you ask beforehand. Below is a list covering
price and contract, AI features and their regulation,
the system's openness, data and security, process and the candidate
– and finally the questions you have to ask inside your own company.
What is the licensing model – do you pay per user or per company?
Do we get a first-year discount? In the SaaS business it's legitimate to ask.
Don't expect anything significant, but a small discount eases the start.
Can we review the contracts up front? You want to see what you're committing to.
Two are key: the Data Protection Agreement (DPA)
and the service agreement.
What is the exit strategy? When you end the relationship, how will it look
and what happens to your data?
Can you migrate data from our current system or from Excel – and how much will it cost?
Some vendors provide migration within the license price, others charge for it.
Are job-board connections included in the price, or charged for each one?
And check with the boards themselves whether they charge for the connection –
how to avoid it.
Which of them are subject to regulation, which aren't – and what do they commit us to?
Ask for transparent information, not reassurance.
Can you turn AI features off entirely? So our recruiters can't use them
at all until we set our own policy.
This is where the biggest information gap tends to be. AI-tool vendors almost all say
they're compliant. But the obligations fall on both the provider and whoever uses AI in
hiring. And it's not just about where the data is processed – secure local models
or tenants in your region. That's a privacy question.
What isn't a privacy question is a matter of AI regulation: what the AI actually
evaluates in the hiring process, whether that's something restricted, and what regulatory obligations it carries. The
applicable rules depend on where you operate, so confirm them with your own counsel.
Does the system have a REST API – and can we see it? This matters: many vendors
say they have an API, but you'll never actually see it.
Do we get documentation for our IT? Give it to your IT department to judge
whether they can connect, say, your career site. Or hand it to the agency that's going to build
your career site – have them quote it and you assess the complexity.
Do you support webhooks? When you ask about the API, ask about these too. They enable simpler
data management: they let you know the moment something happens.
The advantage of an open API is that you can connect the system to your own BI,
to an onboarding tool, or to an HRIS.
Does the system have something like an SLA, so a candidate doesn't spend too long in the process?
Can it measure candidate experience automatically, say via Net Promoter Score?
The important word is automatically.
Don't be fooled when a system offers to have you send the NPS to the candidate at the end of hiring
as an email template. That makes no sense.
If your hiring is decentralized and your recruiter can't even send rejection messages, they'll never send the NPS
at all. All the more so if they don't do their hiring with heart but just rush through it because they have no time.
That's why you need a system that does it automatically.
Ask your managers what they expect in terms of how candidates should be handled.
Ask for references to the vendor's other clients. With them, focus mainly on
what's talk and what's reality.
How will the initial onboarding go?
But be careful with managers: don't be driven by old-fashioned opinions and don't let anyone dictate
that you have to send candidates around by email only.